Post navigation

Lead Truck Auction 2016

The BAA is once again holding our lead truck auction this year. It’s the one chance you (or a buggy fanatic in your life) have of being right in the middle of the action on Raceday. You’ll sit in the back of the lead truck for whatever race(s) you want.

Proceeds help with all the costs of putting on such a spectacular event, including the Jumbotrons everyone loves, the pilot test of the current timing system, and maintenance of a detailed historical archive.

Here’s how it works:

The auction will open at 9 AM EDT on Tuesday April 12th. A link will be posted on our website.

Just like last year, we will run the auction on a third-party website. You will need to create an account with the auction site, and you can set up email alerts if you are outbid. Each heat will have a $10 minimum bid. The minimum bidding increment is $1. You may specify a maximum amount you wish to bid for any heat. Then, the site will automatically increase your bid in $1 increments as needed until your maximum is exceeded by someone else.

There will be separate auctions for each heat of Day 1, and picks for finals heats will be split up into multiple items meaning that you will be able to bid for multiple finals picks. For example, you could bid separately for 1st pick of the men’s finals and 2nd pick of the women’s. This will also allow you to potentially win multiple finals heat picks, though for the sake of inclusiveness we encourage you to only bid for one of each men’s and women’s picks.

Bid as much as you want, as often as you want until the auction closes at 11:59pm EDT on Wednesday April 13th

We will send out an email to the winners, along with instructions on how to pay.

On Raceday, check in WELL BEFORE your heat at the alumni tent and sign the waiver. Then you must be at the top of hill 2 before the start of your heat. If you’re late, then you miss your chance. The BAA cannot be the cause of delays.

Lead truck rides are transferable. If you can’t be in town or don’t like trucks, feel free to bid on an auction and then tell us who gets to take the ride. You can also just will it to your organization of choice and we’ll let the lucky team pick who gets to ride. All riders must be at least 18 years old.

If you have any questions, be sure to email Dan at danbecerra@cmubuggy.org or comment below, we want to address as much as we can before the auction.

We are, of course extremely thankful to sweepstakes for allowing us to use a spot in the lead truck to create this opportunity and raise some money so that the Buggy Alumni Association can pursue its mission to support buggy.

Fine Print Details

All heats will be auctioned simultaneously

The bidding will start at 9am EDT Tuesday April 12th

Bidding will end at 11:59pm EDT Wednesday April 13th

Payment must be received before winners take their rides. Credit card payment will be available and is strongly preferred. Cash and Check will also be accepted at the races.

All winning bids will be considered a gift to the Buggy Alumni Association. We have worked closely with the university to make sure that your gift to the BAA is also credited as a gift to Carnegie Mellon. Be assured that 100% of your gift will go to the Buggy Alumni Association. Also, if you’re an alum celebrating a reunion, your gift to the BAA will be counted towards your class totals.

For tax recognition purposes the donor can only claim their gift amount above the Fair Market Value of the Ride Auction. The fair market value of the Buggy Alumni Association Ride Auction is $10.00. Only the amount of your donation above the fair market value of the EVENT is tax deductible. Please consult your tax advisor for more information.

If two people specify the same maximum bid, and the auction ends without any higher bids, the person that entered their maximum bid first will be the winner.

The end time (11:59pm EDT Wednesday April 13th) is fixed. There will be no extensions to allow for last minute bids. Get your bids in early and make use of the max bid feature!

Any heats that get rained out or otherwise cancelled will just void the auction for those heats. Of course, if winners of cancelled heats want to make their donations anyway, we won’t complain.

Winners should be present at the top of hill 2 at the end of the preceding heat. Failure to show up in a timely manner will result in forfeiting the ride. We can’t be the cause of any delays, so the Buggy Alumni Association will have to be conservative in our estimation of “timely manner.” Be there!

The Buggy Alumni Association and Sweepstakes reserve the right to refund donations from and refuse a ride to anyone that is intoxicated or otherwise unable to safely ride in the back of a truck.

No rides may violate Pennsylvania’s laws concerning riding in a pickup truck. Basically this means the passenger must be over 18.

Sweepstakes also reserves the right to cancel rides and have us refund donations if they need to for any reason.

Post navigation

7 Responses to Lead Truck Auction 2016

In recent years, the lead car got so far out front, that the buggies , even the lead buggy, were out of site or distant specs for the bulk of the ride. it was literally the worst seat in the house. Will this be addressed this year?

This is something we have been working with Sweepstakes on for the last few years. There is a balance between the safe distance to the buggies and ideal viewing distance for the rider. Last year I believe there was a reasonable balance for the free roll (at least for my heats), and then we lost them on the backhills. Once the buggies are through the chute, the lead truck unfortunately needs to clear out so they can be ready in time for the next heat and unload the passengers safely.

The lead truck is a great way to deter the throngs from clogging the finish line area. The truck could stay there through the 4/5 exchange, which pushes the crowd to the sides. Then they just pull right when the lead buggy is maybe halfway through 5 and bang a right turn. Is there still a judge in the lead truck. Doesn’t he/she need to watch the race?

I believe that the lead truck can find a way to get back in position for the start of the next race AFTER the current race is complete. They have a working motor, forward and reverse gears and a nightly tiller. They also have something like 5 minutes As master fisher Bordick says, if it finished closer to the lead buggy, it actually helps with crowd control. Based on the view I had, I am sure the judge in the truck was worthless after hill 1.

That’s weird. I remember being head judge and riding in the lead truck and we had a video camera taping and could see the lead buggy basically throughout (there were a couple of bursts of speed to get well ahead in the chute and then get to the finish line early). Myself and the sweepstakes chair bailed out of the back at the finish line to watch the end of the race and also so that I could be there to hear any complaints/challenges/whatever.